


Going Down With a Fight

by Teethteethteethteethteethteethteeth



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2020 (Part One!) [5]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Autistic Fun Ghoul (Danger Days), Autistic Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Bad Things Happen Bingo, Family Bonding, Gen, Hard of Hearing Fun Ghoul (Danger Days), Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Nonbinary Fun Ghoul (Danger Days), Nonbinary Jet Star (Danger Days), Nonbinary Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Nonbinary Party Poison (Danger Days), PTSD, Post-SING (Music Video), Semiverbal Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:49:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24781087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teethteethteethteethteethteethteeth/pseuds/Teethteethteethteethteethteethteeth
Summary: Party Poison takes a shot for the Kobra Kid. And another. And another.
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul & Jet Star & Kobra Kid & Motorbaby & Party Poison (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul & Jet Star & Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul & Motorbaby | Grace (Danger Days), Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days)
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2020 (Part One!) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767937
Comments: 45
Kudos: 38





	1. Point-blank

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry?

It’s not even a particularly unmanageable setting, or a large amount of Draculoids, nothing makes Party Poison think they should take the clap seriously at all. It even starts out fun, Poison propping the Girl up through the sunroof and letting her fire off blaster shots with reckless abandon. The Fabulous Killjoys pile out of the am with all the tension and energy and glee of brand-new Batt Rats at their first clap, and dive into the fray. But Poison starts feeling wrong, somehow, and they turn in time to see the Kobra Kid trip in the shifting sand and go down, a pair of Dracs after them, blasters raised. Poison’s heart stops. Getting shot is pretty much a given for any killjoy, but seeing their brother hurt never gets easier for Poison, so they drop their blaster and lunge in front of Kobra, taking the brunt of the barrage. Poison screams as they’re hit, curling into a ball as their body explodes in pain. Kobra screams too, scrambling backwards and firing his blaster with shaking hands. He takes out one of the Dracs, while the other continues firing, striking Poison again, and hitting Kobra in the leg. Kobra drops their blaster. The Drac closes in on them, kicking Poison as they pass him, before grabbing Kobra by the upper arm and pulling them up. The Drac raises its blaster to Kobra’s temple, and Kobra is viscerally reminded of their panic in BLI headquarters when Korse had his gun at Poison’s throat, and Kobra’s glad Poison’s too out of it now to be conscious of watching them die. 

The Drac pauses, takes its gun from Kobra’s head, and fiddles with it. Kobra realizes it’s turning its blaster to lethal power. It returns to its original stance and fires. Kobra falls to the ground. The Drac falls to the ground. Poison falls to the ground. When had Poison got up? Poison’s down now. Kobra’s head is spinning, but there’s a distinct absence of blaster fire in his brain tissue, so something must have taken the hit. Oh. Kobra pushes themself off the sand and crawls over to Poison. They’re bleeding from everywhere and they look dead, and Kobra leans away and vomits into the sand because they can’t do this, they can’t see their brother die in front of them again, and—  
“Kobra”, Poison’s voice is weak, barely audible but Kobra hears it right away.   
“It’s okay. Better me than you.” Each time Poison pauses to take a shaky breath or cough, blood painting their lips, Kobra feels his heart break. Kobra knows he should do something— he has to do something or his brother will die, but he can’t he can’t he can’t— Poison reaches out, stretching their left hand across their body— there’s a blaster wound in their right shoulder— and their shaky touch is enough to draw Kobra’s attention back.   
“It’s gonna be okay. Can you get Jet or Ghoul?” Kobra stares. “Kobra I need—“ this time, when Poison coughs, the blood runs thick from their mouth and nose, and they choke, breathing it in as they continue hacking. Kobra flinches, and Poison signs, “Go”, one-handed. Kobra stands, falls, and stands again, limping over the dunes for Jet and Ghoul. They fall more than they walk, leaving round droplets of blood to slowly soak into the sand. Poison knows they shouldn’t, but they let their eyes fall closed, giving in to the pull of sleep even as they can feel their breathing grow shallower still.


	2. Desperate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry

Kobra rounds the top of a dune, to where Fun Ghoul and Jet Star are teaching the Girl about stripping Drac corpses for supplies. They stumble again on their way down, and land crumpled at the base of the dune, the stricken look on their face the only sign Jet needs to take off sprinting towards Poison. Ghoul and the Girl rush to Kobra, and Ghoul’s started examining them, when Jet Star’s voice, choked with fear, calls back to them,  
“Ghoul, get the radio and medkit fast. Don’t let the Girl come over here.” So Ghoul stands and runs for the am, leaving the Girl and Kobra together on the sand. She doesn’t speak, just calmly continues searching Kobra for wounds, applying pressure to their slowly seeping laser burn, the way she was taught. When things catch up to Kobra, she wipes away their tears with her free hand, folding their sunglasses into their jacket pocket. Her fingers are still too small, too unsteady to give anyone stitches, but she has far too much experience ripping fabric into bandages and wrapping them tightly around her loved ones’ wounds. Too young to understand what she’s fighting, the Girl is already a battle veteran, schooled in violence and bloodshed out of sheer necessity. She holds Kobra’s hand when she’s done, and he grips it like a lifeline, still flat on his back staring up at the sky.

Ghoul joins Jet Star beside Poison, and Jet doesn’t acknowledge them for a moment, too busy trying to save their life. Her hands move a mile a minute, tying bandages and tourniquets and shaking Poison each time they close their eyes.   
“Radio the closest hospital and then get the car.” Ghoul does so, their voice breaking as they explain the situation to the rebel on the hospital frequency, who responds with professional efficiency and an emotionless tone. Poison wails as they lift him into the backseat of the trans am, and Kobra sinks their teeth into their knuckles to keep from running to their brother. The sting and taste of blood in their mouth helps keep them from passing out as they lean on Jet’s shoulder and drag themself to the car, sitting down on the floor of the backseat to accommodate their injured leg, and to be closer to their brother. Ghoul sits in the back as well, to monitor Poison’s condition and keep them from falling asleep again. 

When Jet’s tense, they tend to pick up speed driving without realizing, and by the time they reach the hospital outpost, they’re pushing 100 in the beat-up old am, screeching to a stop as rebels in pale blue run out of the building with a stretcher made of scrap plywood never intended to hold a person’s weight. And they’re lifting a screaming Poison out of the car, who does their best to fight them off, before a med ‘joy knocks them out with a syringe of liquid. Kobra sees red, and tries to attack, but they’re already gone, running Poison into the building, shouting orders. Jet follows, supporting Kobra, who’s screaming incoherently, desperate for their brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop a comment if I made you cry~


	3. Encouragement

Ghoul sits in the dirt, leaning against the trunk of the car, hands shaking too hard to light their cigarette.   
“D’you need help?” Ghoul jumps; they’d forgotten the Girl, shuffling out of the passenger seat and sitting down beside them, reaching for the lighter.   
“Shit, Girl! What’re you doing?”  
“Helping.” Ghoul blanches.   
“Ah, I’m so sorry. I don’t need help, I shouldn’t be smoking these anyways.” They put their lighter away and toss the unlit cigarette far away.   
“Don’t start, okay?”  
“What?”  
“I’ll dust you myself if you ever start smoking. Goddamn nicotine dependence’s shit. I’m sorry for exposing you to it, Girl.”  
“It’s okay.” Ghoul knows it isn’t, and they feel like shit for it. For all of it, for the clap, and for life in the desert, and for forcing the Girl into growing up too fast.   
“You were real brave today, you did a damn good job.”  
“Thank you. I wasn’t scared at all, even when I thought Kobra was dead.” When she—  
“Oh, Witch. Kobra’s gonna be just fine, okay?”  
“I know. And Poison?” Fuck, what should they say? What can they say?  
“I love you Girlie, and I really don’t know.” For the first time, they wish for the cheerful lies of Batt City, the promise that if your loved one didn’t make it, enough carbons could buy a replacement droid, the way children in the city grow up too fast but not as fast as in the desert... Ghoul shakes the thoughts out of their head. It doesn’t even make sense, what they’re missing.   
“Grab the radio for me, Girlie? We gotta call D.” She jumps up and goes for the radio, antsy after sitting still for all of ten minutes. Ghoul radios in the situation to Doctor Death-Defying, and when he asks for a current update on Poison’s condition, Ghoul pauses, not sure how to admit they’re too afraid to go back inside the hospital building. Someone on the other end— probably Cherri Cola— murmurs something to D, who changes the subject, evidently reminded of Ghoul’s aversion to medical facilities. 

Not long after the call, Cherri Cola and Show Pony pull up in Cherri’s pickup. Pony scoops up the Girl and offers to take her back to the diner in the truck, which sie do. Cherri hands Ghoul a sandwich wrapped in paper.   
“I figure we’ll be here a while. Eat.” Ghoul accepts the sandwich, unwrapping it and separating the bread and different types of filling before starting to eat.   
“It’s fucked-up, Cherri.” Cherri doesn’t ask what Ghoul’s talking about, just nods and lets them continue.   
“She’s so young, and we’re putting all this shit on her, expecting her to grow up so fast. And I know it’d be the same anywhere else, I just can’t help but feel responsible.”  
“Anywhere else, she might be dead. You’re doing a good job, G.” Ghoul shakes their head, slumps down further.   
“But I could be doing so much better. ‘The hell kinda role model am I? Teachin’ her how to be self-destructive an’ shit. None of us ‘re any good f’r raising a kid.” Cherri pauses, choosing his words carefully.   
“If you think you’re not good enough for the Girl, why not try to be better? We can change, it’s what makes us better than BLI. And we can all try to be better.” Ghoul looks up, startled.   
“Oh. Never thought about ‘t like that. I like that, we can change. I want to... I want to do that for her.” Cherri smiles, a little sadly.   
“I’m glad.” They sit together in silence as Ghoul finishes eating. Then Ghoul stands, stretches, and folds the used paper from their meal into one of their jacket pockets.   
“I want to see them. Will— can ya come with me? I, uh,” Cherri smiles, picking himself off the ground.   
“I’ll be with you for as long as you need me. Keep me updated on how you’re doing?” Ghoul nods, grabbing Cherri’s arm and holding tight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wise words from the Zones’ most poetic DJ.


	4. Vulnerable

It takes Jet Star and two med ‘joys to hold Kobra down, so they can receive treatment for the blaster wound on their leg, and they fight through the lead medic threatening to give up treating them completely, until Jet Star snaps at them that the more they resist, the more people are focused on stopping them instead of helping Party Poison. He stops struggling immediately after, tears still streaming from his eyes. The medics are quick and efficient, and finish with Kobra quickly after he stops fighting, cleaning and re-bandaging the wound and leaving him hooked up to an IV drip. Poison is undergoing surgery, so Jet Star waits with Kobra for any news, and that’s when Cherri and Ghoul find them. The hospital doesn’t have a bed to spare, so Kobra’s on a mattress on the floor, leaning against Jet. Cherri sits beside them readily enough, but Ghoul hangs back, eyes looking anywhere but Kobra, terrified of seeing them so vulnerable and broken. Kobra notices, taking the welcome distraction from their perpetual panic spiral.   
“Fuck. You.” Ghoul startles.   
“What?” A pause. “No, seriously, I didn’t hear you.” Kobra signs this time, forcing Ghoul to look at them.  
“Come. Sit.”  
“No,” Ghoul signs back, taking the bait, distracted from their own hospital-induced anxiety.   
“Scared?” Ghoul is scared, but they’d never admit it, so they swallow it down and sit with the others, almost comically overcareful of disturbing Kobra. Kobra pokes them in retaliation, then winces when Cherri’s giggling shakes the mattress.   
“They’re still refusing painkillers”, Jet Star informs the others, signing as he speaks, “I told him he’s in for a rough few weeks with a burn that size, but he’s not listening.” Kobra flips Jet off, huffing, and Cherri jumps to their defense.   
“Jet. You just gotta accept that Kobra doesn’t want the pills and likely never will.”  
“You don’t need to put words in their mouth, Cherri.” Kobra shoves Jet away, each ‘joy’s emotions overamplified by the stress of the clap and of waiting on news of Poison. Jet stands up, and so does Cherri, each ready to fight. Kobra sighs, hands restless again, fidgeting with where the IV meets his skin, and Ghoul jerks his hand away before he can unconsciously tear it out of his arm. Ghoul’s eyes are wide, and Kobra notices the tremors running through their hands with a pang of guilt. They reach out and take Ghoul’s hand in theirs, holding it firmly in the hopes of grounding them more, and Ghoul leans into the touch, only to startle away when a medic enters the room, cutting off Cherri and Jet’s arguing.   
“One visitor at a time may come see Party Poison now.” Kobra moves to stand up, and the medic shakes their head.   
“You have to stay here.” Kobra looks ready to argue, but clearly just the action of sitting up hurts them, because they sink down without complaint, grimacing. Cherri steps backwards, silently conceding to Ghoul and Jet, and Ghoul already looks sick at the prospect of seeing Poison half-dead in a hospital bed, so Jet steps forward, fingers tapping anxiously at his legs as he does so. The medic leads them away silently, and Cherri sinks back down to the mattress.   
“Witch, I’m sorry. Don’t know what got ahold of me there, I acted like an ass.” Kobra taps him twice on the shoulder with a half-smile.   
“Still. I’ll apologize when he comes back.” Kobra nods support, and the three killjoys on the tiny mattress lapse into silence. 

The medic pauses outside a small room, looking Jet Star in the eye as they say,   
“Do you have a bandanna you can tie around your face? They”, the medic pauses, wanting confirmation. Jet nods, “They and he pronouns.”   
“They have several open burns that are at risk of infection, and we’d like to limit the chances of that happening.” Jet nods and pulls out the multipurpose bandanna he keeps in his jacket pocket as the medic continues,  
“They likely won’t wake up for a few days, and once they do, they’ll be in a lot of pain. We’d like to keep them on pain medication as long as possible, but we simply don’t have the resources to do so.” Jet nods again, expression serious.   
“The wound in their shoulder is the most serious, the blaster was set to lethal force and would have killed them if it hit their heart or head. Additionally, they have multiple smaller blaster wounds across their chest and stomach, several of which required surgery to repair damaged organs.” Jet Star feels faint, but lets them continue rattling off Poison’s injuries like a gory grocery list. 

No matter how much the medic had tried to prepare Jet for seeing Party Poison, the image of the leader of the Fabulous Killjoys lying comatose in a hospital bed was still impossible for Jet to conceptualize, to reconcile with their mental image of the loud, vibrant, constantly in motion ‘joy. Poison’s face is pale, a smear of dried blood still vivid on their forehead. They look small and so vulnerable lying there with their eyes closed, Jet Star is infinitely grateful Kobra isn’t in here in his place, watching their older brother’s labored breaths in the hopes they wouldn’t stop coming. Jet isn’t aware of time passing, watching the body in the hospital bed, until one of the medics stands up from adjusting Poison’s bandages and tells him it’s time to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Jet Star gets snappy when they’re emotional. They don’t mean to. Shout out to the unnamed med ‘joys.
> 
> I’m addicted to the serotonin rush of reading your comments. Enable me?


	5. Nightmares

Show Pony and the Girl return to take Ghoul back to the diner, Jet and Cherri opting to stay the night in the trans am outside the hospital. 

At the diner, things are surprisingly cheery, Show Pony offering no apologies for the mess of art materials sprawled across the floor, instead signing  
“Distraction” to Ghoul when the Girl isn’t looking. Ghoul nods, understanding, and the two of them keep the Girl occupied until bedtime, redirecting her (and their) thoughts away from today’s events. Ghoul tells her a bedtime story, Show Pony watching closely in an attempt to improve their vague grasp of signing, and the Girl falls asleep easily. 

She doesn’t sleep easily, though, waking up in the middle of the night screaming from nightmares. Show Pony sleeps like the dead, and Ghoul has their hearing aids out for the night, so she stumbles her way through the diner in the dark in search of someone, ending up in Poison and Kobra’s empty room, making her cry even harder when she remembers what happened. 

Ghoul finally catches on, awaking from a nightmare of their own to the Girl sobbing in the next room over. They shake their head, trying to make out the sound, jumping up as soon as they understand. 

She’s curled on the mattress in the bedroom, clutching a blanket to her chest, and Ghoul’s heart breaks for her.   
“Hey, Girlie.” They wrap an arm around her and she throws herself into their lap, clutching them like a lifeline.   
“I- I dreamed I couldn’t save Kobra!” She’s wailing, and her words are choppy, and Ghoul hates that they can’t make out her words through her tears.  
“What’s that?” They rub her back, and she twists halfway around to sign with shaking hands as she speaks,   
“Kobra was- he was bleedin’ again, and there was so much blood, an’ I couldn’t save him!” She picks up volume as she speaks, until she’s screaming again, and Ghoul wishes they knew what to say.  
“It’s okay now, Kobra’s gonna be fine.”  
“Is he? Is he? And, and what about Poison? Is they gonna be okay?” Ghoul takes a breath,   
“Yes, Girl. They’ll both be okay”, and just saying the words helps Ghoul believe them. She cries in Ghoul’s lap until she can’t anymore, and Ghoul stands up with her in their arms, cursing softly when their knee cracks from sitting still, the noise ringing out like a shot. Ghoul carries her out to the kitchen and sets her on the counter, grabbing a box of cereal off the top of the refrigerator.   
“I think we’re needing a little midnight dessert, what do you say?” She grins tearfully, wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt.   
“Needs more sugar.”  
“Aw, Girlie, you thought I was tryna give you plain cereal as a treat? I’m insulted.” She smiles again, and Ghoul continues,   
“What I need you to do is crush up this cereal real good, okay? I’m gonna grab sugar and cooking oil while you do that.” She nods, and starts brutally attacking the cereal. When she’s done, she and Ghoul mix it with the sugar, letting the oil stick the crumbs together, and Ghoul sticks the mixture in the oven a few minutes. They eat it hot, the Girl giggling at the sheer amount of sugar Ghoul poured in, and Ghoul listens to her ramble about life, how cool Show Pony is, and her thoughts on rattlesnakes. They talk through the rest of the night, and as the sun rises over the diner, she falls asleep, exhausted, in Ghoul’s lap on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghoul basically makes a heavily modified graham cracker crust. I put three parts crushed graham crackers to one part granulated sugar, and however much butter I feel compelled to add in a bowl and microwave it. Serve warm.


	6. Awake

It’s three days until Poison wakes up. Jet and Cherri alternate between staying with them and Kobra, who has been moved into Poison’s room, and going on short runs with Ghoul to raise carbons to pay the hospital with. The ‘joys running the hospital don’t charge for medical care, but the supplies they need are expensive, and Jet Star doesn’t feel right not giving them something in exchange for saving Poison’s life. 

It’s Cherri who’s with the Venom Brothers when Poison wakes up. He’s absentmindedly reading over Kobra’s shoulder, a book about the native plants of East Asia, information neither of them will ever need, but they enjoy it anyways. Poison lets out a low groan, and Kobra jumps, fumbling the book and losing their page, already trying to stand and walk to Poison’s side. Cherri pulls them up and supports their weight, unable to carry them one-armed, but doing his best to keep their weight off their wounded leg. Kobra leans over Poison, holding their hand, as they fall back asleep, face less pained than before. 

When Poison wakes up enough to be coherent, Kobra is there for them again, healed enough to walk to Poison on their own, and the Venom Brothers get to truly spend a moment together, alive, for the first time since long before the clap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretend I said something real intelligent and funny hear. Listen to Siouxie and the Banshees, they’re neat.


	7. Breathe

It’s a rainy day a few weeks later when Party Poison returns to the diner. Jet Star carries him to and from the trans am, Fun Ghoul lifting the delighted Girl up so she can hold an umbrella over them. Cherri and Show Pony are waiting at the diner, the whole building tidied to the nines in preparation of Poison’s return. 

Poison’s twice as loud as ever, as if to compensate for missed time, holding court from a recliner chair overflowing with all the pillows in the diner. The atmosphere in the room is jovial, the crew sharing stories and food. If the Kobra Kid stumbles more often than not, or if Fun Ghoul startles and shatters a plate at the mention of Poison’s injuries, the others in don’t bring it up, trusting that they each have their respective situations under control. The Girl presents Poison with a painting she made of them driving the trans am, and he compliments her color choice, pointing out his favorite details. Night drags on, and not one of the killjoys present is eager to go to sleep, but when Jet Star’s keels face-first into the table, Cherri suggests they all go to bed, and Jet Star agrees, face flushed with embarrassment. They all end up crowded on the same mattress together, not eager to leave each others’ sides for an instant, and if any of them have nightmares, the presence of their family provides needed comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! Hope you liked it, leave a comment if you’d be so kind!
> 
> I’m on tumblr @wishiwasthemoon-tonight, feel free to swing by!

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest fic I’ve ever written, filling the prompt ‘Taking the bullet’ with Party Poison and the Kobra Kid. I really let the angst get out of hand with this one :)
> 
> Leave a comment, come yell at me or request a prompt on tumblr @wishiwasthemoon-tonight!


End file.
